Circle One 6′0 Review

Written By: Jade on September 26, 2009 No Comment

I was looking for a larger board and something would complement my 5′9 cabrinha squad, making a two board quiver. So the money went down and the new toy procured thanks to Alan at surfdock. Obviously there’s loads of choice of boards in this catagory and believe me i spent many hours pouring over specs and reviews, but it was the price that made me grab this bad boy without a second thought.

What Circle One Say;
Lightweight construction with Vinyl reinforcing ensures this Kite Surfboard range is the most progressive on the market. Honeycomb fins feature to give extra drive. Full range of sizes available for varying conditions.

My Initial Thought
First impressions are; the extra size/volume make a huge difference, it feels like a traditional surf board (as it should).
It does alot of things very well like stalling to stay in the pocket without falling off the plane, maximizing weak sections / swell lines. Its elegant, meaning it responds better to more old skool flowing lines rather than slash and bash which is the bread and butter of a 5′9. Build quality is lovely, rides surprisingly well toeside making frontside riding a thrill.

Extra width particularly in the tail makes gybing a cinch but it pays diffidence to gybe as one following move because; if you lose the pressure on the fins and rails which is locking the board in, it can get very bouncy, and thus more difficult to change your feet.

For me it’s definitely works as a two board quiver. (The 6′0 x 19 for primo conditions because its much more rewarding on a wave, and the 5′9 x 17 with its sharper rails and less volume for everything else)

If you could only have one board I’d probably push someone in the 75Kg / 80kg range to the 5′9 as it’s more versatile in wave height, more comfortable in gusts and chop, easier to correct your mistakes like over running the kite on a bottom turn and generally more forgiving.

If you want to give circle one some feedback, tell them the strap positions are less than optimum, I’ve had to shorten my stance for this board and thus have no where else left to go when tuning it up to personal style, they definitely need more range for straps to extend outwards both forward and back for a tall rider, but regardless of height, I’d really like to get further back on the tail section to pivot more off the fins.

As for kite range on 6′0 board at 80kg I was using a 7.5m in 20 to 25kts, making ideal quiver 5m to 11m I’d reckon.

For freeride; I’m scratching my head on that one? possibly the 5′9 but I dont know why you’d bother, there’s better vehicles out there for those conditions, maybe its a trend thing?